


Origins

by form_troy_boltron



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, sir that's my emotional support side lgbt couple with little to no canon content, this starts off happy but goes downhill pretty quick, tinkaan is canon king
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 20:38:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17988140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/form_troy_boltron/pseuds/form_troy_boltron
Summary: After Rayla fails to kill a human spy, Runaan decides to tell her a story from his past.or: rayla has unlocked part of runaan's Tragic Backstory(TM) and learns why he hates humans so much





	Origins

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place between episodes 1 and 2 k thanks

“You had a job to do!”

 

“He didn’t do anything to me,” Rayla protests. “How could I just take his life?!”

 

“You let him live, but you’ve killed us all,” Runaan says in response, causing Rayla to stamp her foot in frustration. She doesn’t dare talk back to him— at least, not in front of the other assassins.

 

But when Runaan goes to meditate by the river, Rayla sees an opportunity. Approaching him, she says, “Runaan, I’m sorry. It was a mistake. When I looked into his eyes, I... I saw how afraid he was, and I realized I was looking at another living being, just like you or me.”

 

“Humans are not like us. They are monsters,” Runaan says firmly, staring at the river.

 

“But how do you know?” Rayla bites her tongue after blurting the question out, expecting for Runaan to chew her out for being so naive.

 

Instead he sighs and says, “I suppose it’s my fault for protecting you this long. I didn’t want you to know how truly awful they are. But it’s time you knew the truth about the accident.”

 

Rayla sits down next to Runaan, shocked that he’s actually going to tell her. “The accident” had always been a forbidden subject with Runaan and Tinker. She knows the end result, but has never been told the full story. With another deep sigh, Runaan starts his tale.

 

•••••

 

Tinker used to be a sunfire warrior. We met through training, and eventually, as we progressed through the ranks, our relationship developed. He and I were always trying to outdo each other at first, but when we started to work together... we were a force to be reckoned with.

 

Soon enough, we became scouts and were sent to the border of Xadia. Tink was comfortable with our post, but I was restless.

 

“Come on, Tink,” I would complain. “Aren’t you curious about what’s across the border?”

 

“Just humans and no magic. Seems pretty boring to me,” he replied. “Why do you want to cross so much?”

 

“Don’t you want to see if the stories about humans are true?”

 

“If they are, we should stay far, far away from them,” he replied with a laugh, making my heart flutter in my chest.

 

“Are you _scared_?” His ears turned pink as he tried to stammer out some sort of denial, and I laughed uproariously. “Come on, Tink, you can’t seriously be afraid of some five-fingered, non-magic-using—“

 

“They can use magic! They scrape it out of magical creatures like us and then use that energy for something wicked!” I snorted, and he glared at me with those beautiful eyes. “I’m not scared. I’m just careful.”

 

“Call it whatever you want,” I said, rolling my eyes. “But honestly? The two of us together could take on anything.” Tinker looked at me and I realized what I said. “Uh— I mean—“

 

Before I could finish my sentence, Tink leaned in and closed the gap between us. His lips met mine and I melted into the kiss, basking in his warmth. When he pulled away, I finally comprehended what had just happened, and I became a blushing, stuttering mess. But Tink just laughed and said, “Now who’s the scared one?”

 

“You— I— That was cheating! You cheater,” I shouted, smacking him with the hilt of my blade playfully.

 

“It’s about time,” a voice said, making both Tink and I jump. Janai, Tink’s best friend and a fellow scout, was standing by the door to the guard tower, grinning.

 

“Wh— How long have you been there?!”

 

“Got here just in time to see you two smooching,” Janai answered me. “Your shift’s over. Now come down and send me off, would you?” I had forgotten that she was going to be sent on her first mission today.

 

Tink and I slid off the stone wall we were sitting on, then, after a quick break to get ready for the day, we said our farewells to Janai and the sunfire warriors. I couldn’t help but sigh as they faded into the horizon.

 

Tink noticed and, resting his hand on my shouler, asked, “You okay?”

 

“Yes, but—“

 

“I didn’t make you uncomfortable, did I? If so, I didn’t mean to,” Tink said worriedly.

 

“Oh, it’s nothing like that. Before Janai ruined the moment, I really enjoyed it... more than I thought I could,” I admitted.

 

“That’s a relief,” he replied. “I didn’t want to overstep any boundaries. So what’s on your mind?”

 

“I envy Janai. She gets to go out across the border while we’re stuck here in a volcano.”

 

“What’s so bad about it? It reminds me of home.”

 

“Of course it does. Not everyone is a sunfire elf, Tink, we don’t all live in volcanoes,” I said, rolling my eyes.

 

Raising his hands in defeat, he said, “Okay, okay, I get it. Runaan, I know you’re restless, but we’ll be on our first missions before we know it. Janai is only a year older than us— soon enough, it’ll be our turn.”

 

I knew he was right, but I still longed to see the other side. My curiosity grew and was almost unbearable until that fateful night came.

 

It was only a few weeks after Janai left. The night before the full moon, we were doing our shift in the guard tower as usual when I noticed a huge flash of purple light in the distant woods. I nudged Tink and said, “Hey, look at that! I think the humans are using dark magic over there!”

 

“Mhn… Not falling for that again, Ru,” he mumbled, half-asleep.

 

“No, I’m serious this ti— there it is again! Tink, wake _up_ ,” I said, shaking him. Finally, he opened his bleary eyes and joined me at the window, grumbling about how much he hated the night shift. A third flash, bigger than the other two, lit up the night sky with a bang. “See? I told you!”

 

“It looks just like in the reports,” Tink said, looking much more awake. Over the previous weeks, scouts had reported seeing flashes similar to the ones we had just seen, but when teams would arrive to search the areas, nothing was there. Tink looked over at me and, seeing my expression, said, “Whatever you’re thinking about, stop.”

 

“We have to go investigate!”

 

“Are you insane?!”

 

“Whatever they’re doing, they clearly don’t want us to see. If we wait, they’ll just make it disappear again— Tink, there’s no time to lose!”

 

“I hate to burst your bubble, but how are two scouts, one of whom can’t use magic until sunrise, supposed to stop whatever that is?” He gestured to the forest, where another flash shone brightly. I had forgotten that his primal source was the sun, a definite inconvenience to my plan.

 

Sighing in frustration, I said, “The moon is almost full, so I’ll be virtually invisible. But I won’t be able to conceal you… it’d be best if I go alone.”

 

I reached for my bow, but Tinker grabbed my hand and said, “If you think I’m going to just sit here while you’re off getting killed—“

 

“I’ll be fine, Tink, don’t worry.”

 

“I’m coming with you,” he said determinedly. I knew there was no point arguing with him, so together, we set off to cross the border.

 

Once we were on the human side, I reminded him we had to return before sunrise or else the moon runes would fade. We made our way through the woods as quickly and quietly as possible, but as we approached the site, we had to avoid more and more traps.

 

After what seemed like an eternity, we finally reached a human village. Tink and I crouched in the bushes and eavesdropped on the two closest humans, who seemed to be arguing.

 

“Can’t that guy stop firing off his magic bolts?! Some people are trying to sleep here!”

 

“Uh, we’re supposed to be on guard duty,” his companion said, clearly annoyed.

 

“Do you really think anything’s gonna happen? Even if the sunfire elves at the border risked coming out at night, they’d get caught by all those traps we spent so long putting out.”

 

“Still, you could take your job a little more seriously. It’s not every night that the king sneaks into Xadia.”

 

Inadvertently, I gasped aloud, then quickly clapped my hand over my mouth. But it was too late. Both guards ran towards the bushes, weapons drawn, and I quickly cast a stun spell. Before they could recover, I shouted, “RUN!” Tink and I took off back the way we came, ducking and weaving through the foliage. At first, arrows whizzed past us and I could hear their shouts from behind, but as I carried on, the barrage stopped. But I didn’t stop running until I broke through the treeline, panting madly.

 

Letting out a breathy laugh, I said, “Guess they gave up, huh, Tink? Doesn’t sound like they’re following us anymore.” I turned, expecting to see him behind me, but he was nowhere to be found. “...Tink?”

 

A sudden sense of dread washed over me as I stared at the tree line. I looked up at the sky, where I could see the moon setting. In that moment, I had to make a decision: either return to Xadia without Tink, or be stuck in the human lands for an entire day without being able to use magic.

 

I knew what the practical decision was— I should go back, report the human trespassers and get help, then come back for Tink with a group of elves at nighttime. But how could I just leave him there, knowing it was my fault he was here in the first place?

 

I wrote a short note explaining about the intruders and my situation, then wrapped it around an enchanted arrow. After firing the arrow into the rising sun and over the border, I returned to the woods, scaling the highest tree I could find. I spotted a column of smoke in the distance and headed towards it, leaping through the canopy to avoid the traps and guards. The springtime blooms of the trees provided me with the cover I needed, and within two hours, I was back at the village.

 

•••••

 

Runaan stands and says, “You know what happened after that.” He starts to walk away, but Rayla runs to him and grabs his arm.

 

“Wait, no I don’t! All I know is Tinker’s leg had to be amputated and he couldn’t be a soldier anymore, but how’d you rescue him?”

 

“You are not ready to hear the rest of this story. I see now you’re still just a child. Your heart isn’t hard enough to do what must be done.”

 

“Well, tell me what the humans did to him, then! How am I supposed to hate them if I don’t know what they’ve done?” Rayla continues to pester Runaan as he walks, and he knows Rayla won’t give up until she gets what she wants. She can be as stubborn as Runaan when she wants to be.

 

“Fine! Fine, I’ll tell you the rest,” Runaan finally says, sitting down on a nearby rock with a sigh. Rayla plops down next to him, grinning smugly. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNKKKKKKKKK NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
> 
> runaan the humans caught tink oh god he has AirPods in he can't hear me oh no
> 
> anyway HI this is my first (of probably many) tdp/tinkaan mini-fics, i thought of this hc that tinker has a prosthetic leg like a week ago and decided to write a lil story about how he got it
> 
> janai is so happy that her boy is finally getting some   
> also janai is tinker's childhood friend, they grew up in a volcano together
> 
> runaan blames himself for what happens so that's why it's so hard for him to talk about 
> 
> thanks for coming please like and subscribe


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